Arteriosclerosis (short version)

Arteriosclerosis (short version)

Arteriosclerosis is hardening and thickening of the walls of the arteries that occurs universally with age due to diffuse depositoin of calcium in the muscle and connective tissue of the arteries and arterioles. Arteriosclerosis is frequently confused, even by doctors, with atherosclerosis (which involves plaque formation). Arteriosclerosis is associated with elevated blood pressure due to the fact that a calcified arterial system cannot expand and contract with each heart beat and therefore cannot absorb the shock of pressure generated by the heart beat. Hardening of the arteries is part of the generalized phenomenon of calcium depositon with age which happens throughout the body leading to many of the changes seen with aging. This condition is treatable with intravenous EDTA chelation therapy which returns flexibility to the entire system, including the vascular system.